New poll shows most Americans view President Trump as a divider, not uniterSeptember 25, 2017

President Donald Trump, speaking at the United Nations

(NATIONAL)--Even before President Trump injected himself into the
ranks of NFL
coaches, telling football players what they should and shouldn't do
under
threat of termination, most Americans viewed Trump as a President who
was doing
more to divide this country than unite it.

At
least that's what some Washington Post-ABC polling released Sunday
suggests.

The
numbers from the poll show about two-thirds of Americans (66%) felt
that Trump,
despite what he says about the country needing to unite was driving
Americans
apart from one another. Only about a third (28%) said he was uniting
Americans.

The
Post asked the same question shortly after the Presidential election
and got
very different results. Back then 49% said Trump would "likely"
divide the nation and 44% said he would be a uniter.

What
that shows is that Trump's actions in office since the election have
led many
more Americans to view him as a divisive leader.

Interestingly,
that view holds steady among most demographic groups. "A majority of
white
Americans and a huge majority of black and Hispanic Americans think
that
Trump has done more to divide than to unite," said a
Washington Post
report about that poll.

Only
among Republicans, white evangelical Protestants and conservatives do a
majority think that Trump has been more of a uniter. But the
Post found an
interesting detail there that is worth noting.

Among
those who approve of Trump — 39% of respondents, far fewer than other
recent
presidents at this point in a presidency — about 1 in 5 think he has
done more
to divide than to unite. Even 1 in 7 of those who approve of Trump strongly seem him as more of a divider than
a uniter.

According
to the Post, "Neither George W. Bush nor Barack Obama ever had so many
Americans view them as being so divisive. Bush’s worst marks on the
question
came in June 2005 in Post-ABC polling, when 55 percent of the country
viewed
him as doing more to divide than to unite. Obama’s worst numbers came
in
September 2014, when 55 percent viewed him as divisive."

For
their part, NFL players and one baseball player responded to Trump's
angry
speech in Atlanta - where he indicated it would be "great" if NFL
owners would fire players who don't stand for the national anthem -
responded with
widespread protest actions during the weekend's games.

On
Saturday night, the Oakland Athletics' Bruce Maxwell became the first Major League
Baseball
player to kneel in protest during the anthem.

During
Sunday's NFL games:

Neither
the Seattle
Seahawks
or the Tennessee
Titans
turned out for the national anthem before kick-off at their game, hours
after
the Pittsburgh
Steelers
did the same in Chicago.

The
anthem singer at the Seahawks-Titans game kneeled at the end of he
performance,
as did singer at the Lions-Falcons game, who also raised his fist

The
Chicago Bears stood on the sidelines with
their arms locked, as did New England
Patriots
star quarterback Tom Brady and teammates at
another game.

Some
Green Bay
Packers and
Cincinnati
Bengals
players also linked arms. However when it came to football fans, all
was not
solidarity with players. Fans booed their own teams at some games as
players
silently protested - including at the Titans and Patriots games.

And
Philadelphia
Eagles
fans clashed with protesters ahead of a game in their home city against
the New York
Giants.

Jacksonville
Jaguars
owner Shahid Khan - who donated $1 Million to the Trump campaign -
locked arms
with his players which was an unusual sight as owners rarely join their
players
on the field before games.